ZAGREB, January 20, 2018 – Croatia’s Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović met with US Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke during his visit to Washington on Friday.
Božinović told Hina after the meeting that he was very pleased with the fact that the meeting was held at such a high level. “The Attorney General is also in charge of the police, the FBI and the CIA, the agencies the Croatian Ministry of the Interior cooperates with. The main conclusion is that the present cooperation should continue and, as Mr Sessions put it, we need to raise it to a higher level,” Božinović said.
He and Sessions agreed to increase the cooperation in the rule of law, criminal investigations and prosecutions, and to increase judicial cooperation between Croatia and the United States.
Also discussed was inclusion of Croatia in the Visa Waiver Program, and it was pointed out that the strengthening of cooperation, which was agreed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), was an important contribution to achieving this goal. The US emphasised the importance of information exchange, notably on air passengers.
Other topics discussed were migrations, border protection and protection of national interests, “given that migrations are a global phenomenon which Europe and the US will be facing in the long term,” Terezija Gras, State Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior, said after the meeting.
The Croatian Ministry of the Interior and the US Department of Homeland Security signed an implementing agreement on enhancing cooperation in preventing and combating serious crime.
On the last day of his visit, Božinović also met with Robert W. Patterson, Acting Administrator of the DEA, and they agreed to increase the cooperation in combating drug trafficking.
“Mr Patterson offered operational training for Croatian police officers investigating drug crimes and promised to consider a possibility of approving funds for a separate programme that would be intended for Croatia,” said Antonio Gerovac, the head of the National Police Office for Prevention of Corruption and Organised Crime (PNUSKOK).
